At the Beginning
by psychic-girl14
Summary: I placed my hand gently in his, his larger hand engulfing my small one. His warm fingers curled around mine, and in that moment I knew I wasn’t alone.
1. Gravity

**A/N: Hey everyone! This is my very first Fanfic, so I'd really appreciate it if all readers would review. I'm not sure if I should continue this. It was really just a story I couldn't get out of my head that I wrote down and played around with. So review and please let me know if you think I should continue this! **

**I've decided to name each chapter after a song title. This one's named after Gravity by Sara Bareilles.**

**Um, I think that's it so . . . happy reading!**

**- psychic-girl14 **

**- -**

My feet crunched through the snow as I trudged forward. I could _feel_ it, but when I looked behind me no footprints marking my trial were left in the snow. I sighed. I knew I was walking through the foot of snow layering the ground beneath me, but I left no footprints in my wake.

I was untraceable. I had no scent to any other vampire that crossed my trail. Aro had described it to me once as a "blind spot" in his vision. I left no proof behind me that showed any indication that I had been somewhere. Dimitri wasn't able to use his power to track me either. I could make anyone near me untraceable too; their scent would disappear, and anything they did left no proof that they had been there. It was helpful for snooping around where I wasn't supposed to and sneaking off to places when I wanted no one to find me. It was almost as if I didn't exist, except for the fact that I physically did.

Aro had changed me in 1953. I was seventeen. World War II had ended only a few years earlier. My mother had sent me and my younger brother out for groceries. He was nine.

It was late in the afternoon, around four. We were walking home after picking up the ingredients Mama would need for dinner. Aiden swung our entwined hands while rambling on about his day at school. I laughed when he told me about a trick he and his friend had played on their teacher.

We were just in the wrong place at the wrong time.

We were still near the center out the town; it was bustling with people. Suddenly, a woman cried out.

"No!"

A man, around ten years older than I was, with haunted eyes had come stumbling out of a bar. He was drunk. Someone had bumped into him as he tried to navigate the busy street in a drunken fashion. He got angry.

It surprised me just how quickly he was able to draw his gun. He had fired thirteen shots before anyone could stop him. I had pushed Aiden away from him. I was just too slow to save myself.

I was on the ground in an instant. The bullet had lodged itself firmly in my stomach. I lay on the ground, bleeding as people ran every which way around me.

I heard Aiden calling my name. "Lacey!"

I had no energy to answer. I was fading so fast.

"Lacey!"

Finally, he spotted me. He ran, dropping to his knees next to me. Tears rolled down my face.

He began to cry too as he tried to reassure me. "Lace. No. Don't cry. It's okay. Everything's going to be alright," He whispered to me. He gently touched the blood that soaked my blue dress. My blood covered his hands. "I'll go get help! I'll go get Mama! She'll know what to do." He began to rise.

My hand grabbed his shirt sleeve. I didn't want to be left alone.

"Don't . . . leave . . . me."

He sank back down to his knees next to me.

"Never, Lace, never," He whispered to me before raising his voice. "Help! Help! Somebody! Help!" He called desperately. People were still frantic, running around the market, tending to others who were injured. The seamstress from the local store came running outside. She knew our family well.

"Aiden," She called to him, running over to us. He sighed in relief beside me.

"Ms. Allen, Ms. Allen!"

She reached us then, gasping when she saw me. "Oh god."

"You have to help her!" He cried viciously, the sobs he had been controlling finally escaping him.

I raised my arm slightly, inviting him into my arms. He buried his face into my shoulder, his tears soaking my sleeve.

"You can't die, Lacey. You can't!" He sobbed into my shoulder.

"Shh . . . ." I tried to calm him. "You . . . you need to . . . promise to do something . . . for me."

He pulled away from my shoulder. "No, whatever you want me to promise to do I won't have to. You're going to live to do it yourself."

I half-smiled up at him. "Aiden . . . promise me. Promise me . . . you won't forget."

"Never, Lacey. Never, for as long as I live," he grasped my larger hand in his two smaller ones.

"I . . . love you," I told him. I felt myself slipping under the black water. My vision became blurry. My fingers uncurled from around his. The last thing I heard before going under was my younger brother sobbing my name.

"Lacey. . . . Lacey . . . . Come back, Lacey! I love you too! I love you too!"

I had endured what felt like years of pain after falling under the black water. I later found out that this was the change. After I passed out, my heart was beating so feebly, I was pronounced dead. I was taken to the morgue at the local hospital. Aro had found me there, impossibly still alive.

He told me he had been watching me since birth. He had known I would be special. He was able to sneak my body out, and bring it back to Italy. I awoke three days later to the sight of his smiling face, not realizing then just what Aro's smile meant.

The first few weeks of life I held on tightly to my human memories, not wanting to forget. I memorized every detail that I could remember. I held onto my family most dearly: Aiden; his smile, his bright blue eyes, the same color as mine, and his carefree view of the world. Mama's beautiful blonde hair that Aiden had inherited, I had gotten my father's deep brown. How she played with my hair, telling me how silky it was. She always told me I was beautiful. Papa's deep brown eyes that seemed to go on forever and his love of watches; he was a watchmaker. He loved to dance. Even at seventeen, Papa loved to dance with me standing on his toes like I was a little girl. We would whirl around the house until Mama told us to stop.

I remembered the dog I had gotten for my fifteenth birthday. Max followed me around everywhere. He had even followed me to school one day when he was a puppy. I had gotten detention that day for having my dog disrupt class. But that didn't bother me; Max was too cute to get angry at.

Family trips to the beach and picnics next to the lake were harder to remember. They all blurred into one mess. But I could remember flashes, which was better than most vampires. Finally, realizing that mourning my loss wouldn't give me my human life back, I turned to Aro for guidance in the new world I was a part of.

He trained me, taught me what I was, and adopted me into his "family". I felt proud to be as special as to replace Jane, as Dimitri later told me, as Aro's favorite. Aro trained me to use my power, control it, and pass it off to others. He was, at the time, a father to me. I hadn't yet realized what it really mean to be in the Volturi.

I never had liked drinking from humans to survive. Whenever I hunted, I imagined Aiden, or Mama or Papa in front of me. I imagined what my family went through with my loss. What this person's family would go through with their loss. I hunted as quickly as possible every time; I was always the first person done. Everyone enjoyed the hunt, got a thrill from it. I hated it with every fiber of my being. I only dealt with the pain because I knew of no other way to hunt. I had asked Aro once. He told me there was only one way. But I knew there was another way. I _felt_ it.

Over the years, Aro's true colors came out. That smile I had reveled in when I was younger now told me that something malicious and torturous was forming in his mind. After training me, I was used to infiltrate other vampire coven's homes, who had allegedly broken the law. I was told to kill everyone that crossed my path. I listened for awhile, but it soon became harder to do so. After I had killed each coven, I would see their blood on my hands. It had gotten to the point where I would constantly wear gloves just so as not to see the imaginary blood.

Aro questioned me on my sudden taking to gloves one afternoon. I could not lie to him when he held out his palm. I placed mine grimly in his and stood waiting for his reaction.

"I see." He did not sound pleased. "Maybe you should take a break from missions."

I did not leave the castle for almost a year after that.

That's why I was here, trudging through a foot of snow somewhere near St. Petersburg in Russia.

My escape from the castle was subtle and quiet. I had gone to my room as I had every single day for almost a year at exactly seven to take a shower and clean up. I got dressed to leave. I kept my cloak on in case I was spotted. I wanted to run right then; I was getting anxious. But I knew I must wait until sun down - exposing myself would just get me killed.

I had jumped out the window around two in the morning, my feet absorbing most of the shock, making a soft thump only a vampire could have heard. I was out of the city, running in moments. I ran until I hit Russia. It only took a few hours.

I was bundled up against the cold, though it had no effect on me. It would look weird to anyone who spotted me. I needed to keep as most skin as possible covered up if I wanted to travel during the day anyway.

My jeans were tucked tightly into my boots, a simple long sleeve tee for a top. I wore a sweater over that and then the cloak that all of the Volturi were required to wear. I was in no way still aligned with them, but the cloak was large and covered must of my body. My hair was left down. I wrapped a scarf around my neck and face leaving only my eyes and the skin surrounding them uncovered.

I walked now, taking in the smells and sight of nature. It was nice being on my own, travelling and being in nature. The trees surrounding me were covered in silver, the sky still pouring out those beautiful white flakes. The forest was silent as I walked through it, the only sound being my boots crunching though the snow.

_Crack._

I froze. Another vampire was in the immediate area. My muscles tensed to fight. I breathed in deeply, taking in their scent. It was different than what I expected; it was pure, clean.

I traced the scent back a few yards into the forest. I couldn't see them yet, but I was almost sure they could see me. My calculations only took half a second. They might not have noticed my hesitation. I stayed calm, my years of training with the Volturi kicking in.

I began to trudge through the snow again, taking small steps toward the forest, acting as if I heard nothing.

Leaves crunched. The scent shifted slightly to the right. They were getting anxious. I had to act quickly.

I took off like a bullet straight into the trees. They didn't see it coming. I was on top of them in a second, their arms pinned beneath me. I smirked down at him.

He was my age, maybe older. He was built sinewy, but he probably could've overpowered me if I hadn't caught him by surprise. His long, auburn hair fell into his eyes. I looked down at him, expecting a red glare, but received a golden one. I was shocked just enough that my grip loosened and he rolled us over; him now straddling me. I was shocked, unmoving below him as I stared up at his eyes. They were the single most beautiful things I had ever seen in my existence.

I shook the thought from my head and began struggling to get free. He wouldn't budge.

I threw my entire body weight against his hold. I was getting angry now.

"Do you know who I am?" I snarled up at him.

He was calm as he answered me. "You're with the Volturi."

His voice was soft as he answered me, despite our predicament. It was smooth, velvety. I could have listened to it for hours. My feelings confused me. What I was feeling was totally and completely irrational.

"That's right," I growled, ignoring my feelings. "And it'd be in your best interest to Get. Off. Me. Now!" I punctuated each word a tug against his hold.

"I don't think you're really in the position to be giving orders," he smirked down at me, holding back laughter. He seemed unaffected by my threat. I growled at him, baring my teeth. He paused for a moment.

"Now," he began. "I'm going to let you up, and you're going to stand up and calmly explain to me why someone in the Volturi would be here in Russia. Okay?"

I didn't hesitate. "No. I don't have to explain myself to anyone. Especially not you."

"Okay then," he shrugged after a moment. "We'll just sit here like this until you decide to be nice," he leaned back, still pinning my arms down, and shifted into a more comfortable position on top of me.

I fruitlessly struggled against his hold for a few more moments before giving up and silently fuming beneath him.

We sat like that for a few minutes, him smirking down at me, me glaring up at him.

"Fine," I spat up at him.

His smirk grew more pronounced as he got up off of me, dusted himself off and held a hand down to help me up. I glared at it before pushing myself up off the ground.

I crossed my arms stubbornly across my chest, adjusting my scarf around my neck, and narrowed my eyes at him. He towered over my five-foot-five stature by almost a foot. I took a few steps back so that I didn't have to tilt my head to look at his face. He chuckled and smiled down at me. I took the moment to observe his appearance.

His hair fell in messy disarray just below his ears; I noticed that it fell into his eyes a little, obscuring from my view those wonderfully golden orbs that had first surprised me. It looked soft; I ached to touch it, to twirl my fingers through it. His teeth were perfectly straight; he didn't seem embarrassed to bare his slightly pointed incisors. His thin, pink lips smiled down at me. I thought about what it would feel like to have his lips moving with mine, on my cheeks, my nose, my neck . . . .

He was built thin; _Sinewy_, I repeated to myself. However, he didn't lack muscles. They stretched, pulling taut as he shoved his hands into his jeans pockets. I raked my eyes over his arms, taking in those muscles, imagining just how it would feel to have them wrapped around me. His jeans were rolled up over loosely tied hiking boots. A grey buttoned overcoat covered his upper body; it fell about mid-thigh. He was beautiful; quite easily the most gorgeous boy I had ever seen.

"What do you want to know?" I forced myself to say, my voice shaking a little.

"What's your name?"

It was a simple question, but I hesitated, unsure of giving this stranger my name. My heart sang, _Yes_; my mind told me, _No_.

"You do have one, don't you?" He acted concerned, but I knew he meant to tease me.

I rolled my eyes in amusement.

"Lacey," I said curtly.

"And your last name?" He prompted me on.

"I don't know it." I wasn't sure why I felt the way I did; why I felt the need to tell him everything about myself. Why I _wanted _him to know everything about me.

"You . . . don't have one?" He asked slowly.

"Well, I'm sure I do," I scoffed at him. "I just don't remember it."

He seemed to not be paying attention as I asked him my question.

"And you?" I pulled him out of thought.

"Me?"

"Your name?" I smiled just the tiniest bit. His brows had knitted together in confusion, a few creases forming on his forehead. I had an irrational urge to kiss them away.

"Zak Horowitz." He smiled sheepishly at me.

Zak. It suited him well.

Familiarities over, I turned to leave. I really didn't want to leave; the thought actually tugged at my heart. It yelled at me, _and where do you think you're going? _But I was on the run. I didn't really have time for this.

I only got a few steps before he stopped me.

"Hey!"

My heart rejoiced as I heard his voice. It sounded almost desperate, pleading with me to stay.

I turned to face him again. He seemed to struggle for something to say.

"You never answered my first question," he said quickly. "Why is someone like you, obviously a very powerful member of the Volturi, out here in Russia?"

"I ran away." I waited for his reaction.

"You . . . ran away?" He began to laugh.

I huffed and spun around again before beginning to stomp away. I could have easily taken off into the forest. He would've had no way to follow me. But I didn't want to leave him. Something held me there.

"Oh, come on, Lacey!" He called after me, jogging until he reached my side, matching my stride easily. My heart sung when he said my name. It could have just been me, but his voice seemed to soften as he said my name. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to laugh. It's just . . . you don't simply run away from the Volturi."

"Well, I did," I told him.

"How haven't they caught you yet?" He seemed flabbergasted.

"I . . . ." I hesitated for a second, and looked up at Zak's face, his beautiful, golden eyes lit up, listening intently to every word I said. I couldn't help but tell him the truth. "I have a gift."

His wide-eyed gaze prompted me on.

"I'm untraceable. It's been described to me as a "blind spot" in someone's vision. I have no scent. I leave no proof behind me that I was ever in a place, no proof that I ever existed. For example," I stopped walking and gestured behind me. Only one set of footprints led to where we stood. Zak blanched.

I smiled at his surprise and began walking again. He stood still for a moment before lurching to catch up with me.

"I can transfer my gift to others as well. It's quite helpful when snooping around," I told him.

He looked confused when I glanced up at him again to gauge his reaction.

"You have a scent." His eyebrows pulled together as he spoke, his nostrils flaring as he breathed in deeply, leaning towards me. I breathed in deeply also as he leaned closer.

His scent overpowered me. He had a very earthy smell. If I had to name it as one thing I would have said burning wood.

"It's very sweet. Almost like candy." I pulled me from my own musings. I stared at him, my mouth agape.

"It's kind of like cocoa beans actually." He added as an afterthought.

"Really?" My eyes widened in surprise.

"Yes," He was surprised by my surprise, "Haven't you ever been told that before?"

I shook my head. "No. Everyone else that I've ever spoken to has said that my scent is like a blind spot in their vision. They can't smell anything coming from me."

"That's too bad," he pondered. "You smell nice."

I flushed, blood from my recent feeding pooling in my cheeks.

I turned the attention from myself with a question that had bothered me since we had met. "Why are your eyes gold?"

He smiled down at me, those eyes glowing with pride. "I don't follow your diet."

I scrunched my nose in confusion.

"I'm a vegetarian, you could call it. I feed only from animals." He clarified, noticing my confusion.

Hope swelled in my chest. There was another way! Aro had so obviously lied to me. I was suddenly disgusted by my own bright red, murderous eyes.

"What? It's not that bad! Really! And you get used it. Sure, it's tough at first, but the blood gets easier to resist." He must have seen the disgust on my face and misinterpreted it.

"That's one of the reasons I left," I sighed staring down at my feet.

"What? Being around all the humans?" He seemed genuinely concerned.

"No. I don't want to feed from humans anymore. I hate killing. I see blood on my hands all the time," I told him, glancing up to gauge his reaction. "They remind me of the loss my family went through when I died. I hate doing that to people. I don't like being a monster."

"Hey!" He seemed angry that I was upset with myself. "Don't be like that! I didn't know any better either! None of us know any better!"

When I didn't answer, he stopped walking and grabbed my shoulders, forcing me to stop too. I continued to stare at my boots.

He put his right hand under my chin. An electric shock ran through my body when he touched me. His thumb gently rubbed circles on my cheek. Butterflies danced in my stomach. My heart flew. It felt so _right _to have his skin on mine.

He gently pulled my chin up so as to meet my gaze with his. I didn't fight him. His golden gaze was calming; it seemed to be able to penetrate my soul.

"Do _not_ get angry at yourself," He told me fiercely. "None of us are martyrs. But we can change, and we can grow into better people. We've all killed before. I've killed before. It's our hatred for killing that sets us apart from the rest of them. _We_," The way he said we made my breathe catch, "can be different. I'll teach you. You'll never kill another human as long as I'm with you."

By the end of his speech, our faces were only a few inches apart. He hesitated for a second before leaning towards me slowly, to gauge my reaction. My eyes fluttered closed when our lips were only three inches apart.

Suddenly I remembered where we were, who I was and what I was doing. My heart threw a fit. I opened my eyes; his were closed now that our lips were only a few centimeters apart, his hand holding my chin loosely in place.

I pulled back gently, turning my face away from him and closing my eyes. I didn't want to see the hurt that would be in those beautiful topaz eyes. My heart wrenched and tore itself to shreds at the thought of hurting him. Why did it hurt me so much, just imagining hurting him? I had only just met Zak, and I liked him too much already.

His hand dropped from my chin. I felt loss as his skin left mine.

"I'm sorry." My voice was barely audible, even to my own ears. I apologized for causing him the pain I knew I had. Why did my mind have to be so rational?

I opened my eyes again, searching for him. He stood a few steps away from me.

His eyes were clouded over in pain, as I'm sure mine were. Hesitantly, he stretched his hand out towards me. He didn't need to say anything for me to know what he was asking. His eyes told me that he felt the same way for me as I felt for him. I couldn't leave him. However irrational my mind told me this was, my heart overpowered it. It seized up at the thought of even leaving him for a few seconds.

I placed my hand gently in his, his larger hand engulfing my small one. His warm fingers curled around mine, and in that moment I knew I wasn't alone.


	2. Angel

**A/N: Okay guys, so here's the first chapter, but from Zak's POV. I was just playing around with characters and turned this out. I loved it so much I decided to post it! I really enjoyed being inside Zak's mind and hope you guys enjoy it. **

**This chapter is named after Angel by Aerosmith.**

**If I do continue **_**At the Beginning, **_**I don't plan on doing Zak's POV for every chapter, unless I get a very positive response to this. So if you really enjoy Zak's POV or like it even better than Lacey's than let me know and take your thoughts into consideration. **

**Disclaimer: The Volturi, Dimitri, Jane and Aro all belong to the very talented Stephenie Meyer. I own nothing except for Lacey and Zak. Forgot to put a disclaimer for chapter one. This applies to chapter one also.**

**Enjoy!**

**- psychic-girl14**

**- -**

**Zak POV**

I walked slowly through the forest, jumping up to swing every once and a while on a tree branch or to climb into a tree just to walk precariously on its' branches.

I was carefree. I wasn't afraid to admit it. I had been for almost a century.

I dropped back to the forest floor. The foot of snow that littered the ground absorbed the shock, making only a soft _crack _as I landed on a stray twig.

As I straightened up, I saw her.

She stood frozen in the middle of the path that led through the forest; I chose to avoid the path. The forest was better to hide in if I happened to cross paths with any unwelcoming visitors.

I crouched down, a few yards away from her, behind the brush and trees. She was one of us. I was downwind; I didn't worry about her catching my scent. I observed her for a few seconds.

The first thing I noticed was her cloak; she was in the Volturi. The dark grey cloak whipped around her ankles in a menacing way, daring anybody who crossed her path to bother its wearer. She wore a simple pair of jeans and boots under the cloak; a long sleeved tee donned her upper body. She was at least half a foot shorter than I was. Her chocolate brown hair waved in soft curls to just below her shoulders. Her heart-shaped face was soft, a tinge of pink still resided in her cheeks, giving her a youthful, rosy look. She was singularly the most beautiful girl I had ever seen. My breathe caught in my throat as her eyes glanced in my direction.

Her eyes, her magnificent almond shaped eyes, were blood red. I blanched. I knew she was in the Volturi, but I had expected her to be different. How could someone, so beautiful, so innocent looking, be one of _them_. They were evil, malicious. She just _couldn't _be.

After the initial shock, which really shouldn't have been such a surprise, I looked more deeply into her eyes. They were . . . haunted. My heart lurched and I had a fierce feeling to encase her within my arms. To protect her from whatever made those beautiful eyes look the way they did now.

I could imagine how her head would fit perfectly into the concave of my shoulder; how her arms would slide around my waist, holding me to her. I would wrap my arms around her mid-drift, kiss the top of her head, and bury my nose into her brown curls, breathing in her scent.

I took in all of this in a matter of seconds.

She began to trudge through the foot of snow once more. She seemed not to notice me. I expected to feel relief; I had just avoided a confrontation with a member of the Volturi. Instead of relief, I felt a tug of despair that she hadn't noticed me. The feeling was irrational. I shook it off.

I shifted, just minutely, so that I could keep an eye on her so as to know when to make my escape. Leaves crunched beneath my right foot. I winced, freezing in my place. She couldn't have missed that.

I rocked back onto the balls of my feet. It was silent for a split second. Suddenly, she was gone. My brows knit together in confusion.

I wasn't expecting it. She was on top of me in a second. My arms were pinned beneath hers, her small hands wrapping around my forearms. She smirked down at me. I was dazed for a brief second. Her face was only inches from mine. I breathed in deeply; she had a very sweet smell. Had I been human, I would have said it was like sweets, candy.

As I had been taking her in, she had been gazing down at me. Her red eyes grew large as they met my golden ones. Her smirk fell from her face and her grip on me loosened.

I rolled us over, me now above her. I held her securely to the ground; I didn't want this angel to fall through my grasp.

She lay unmoving beneath me for a few moments, her eyes glazed over as we stared at each other. She snapped out of it suddenly, her eyes losing the glazed over look; she began to struggle beneath me. I held her tightly.

Her face contorted in anger.

"Do you know who I am?"

Her voice was better than I had expected. It was smooth as butter, sweet and soft even when she was angry. It matched her perfectly. She was furious beneath me. I stayed calm as I answered her; she had that effect on me.

"You're with the Volturi."

"That's right," she growled up at me. "And it'd be in your best interest to Get. Off. Me. Now!" She punctuated each word with a tug against my hold. I didn't waver from above her.

I smirked down at her, holding back laughter. "I don't think you're really in the position to be giving orders."

She growled up at me, baring her teeth. I thought for a second about what to do. I had a member of the Volturi, and, not to mention, the most beautiful girl I had ever laid eyes upon, pinned beneath me. For the first time since I had seen her, I wondered what she was doing in Russia if she was a member of the Volturi. My curiosity got the best of me.

"Now," I started. "I'm going to let you up, and you're going to stand up and calmly explain to me why someone in the Volturi would be here in Russia. Okay?"

She didn't hesitate to answer. "No. I don't have to explain myself to anyone. Especially not you."

It hurt to have her angry with me. I didn't know why I had such an attraction to this girl. I took me a minute to compose an answer.

"Okay then," I shrugged. "We'll just sit here like this until you decide to be nice," I leaned back, still pinning her arms down beneath me. I didn't want her to go anywhere. I prayed she wouldn't be so angry as to run off after I let her go.

She struggled beneath me for a few more moments before giving up and silently fuming.

She glared up at me, I smirked down at her.

Finally, she relented. "Fine."

I stood up slowly, afraid that she would bolt. I dusted myself off and held a hand down to help her up. She huffed at it and pushed herself off the ground.

She adjusted her scarf around her neck as she stood, before stubbornly crossing her arms over her chest. She took a few steps back, so she didn't have to tilt her head back to look me in the face. I chuckled and smiled down at her.

We stood in silence for a few moments. Her eyes raked over my body, but continuously found their way back up to my eyes.

"What do you want to know?" Her voice sounded forced. I noticed then she had a tiny British accent. It was cute. Of course, you would only notice if you were paying extreme attention to it.

Even glaring and furious, she was gorgeous. The way she stood, her arms crossed across her chest, lifted her shirt just the tiniest bit so that I could see a slice of creamy skin between the hem of her shirt and the waistline of her jeans. Her scent rolled off of her in waves, continuously filling my nostrils. Her frown subtly pushed out her lower lip. I wanted to kiss her there and then. I had to know this angel's name; _my_ angel's name.

"What's your name?"

She hesitated.

"You do have one, don't you?" I teased her, hoping to make her realize that I meant her no harm.

She rolled her eyes before responding. "Lacey."

Lacey. It was a soft, feminine name. It suited her so well.

"And your last name?" I asked her, almost begging her to tell me.

"I don't know it." Her voice sounded regretful; like it was her fault she didn't know it.

"You . . . don't have one?" I asked slowly.

She scoffed at me. "Well, I'm sure I do. I just don't remember it."

Her eyebrows knitted together as she told me this. Her button nose wrinkled in thought. I was only half paying attention as she asked me something.

"And you?"

"Me?"

"Your name?" Her mouth curved up just the tiniest bit. I wouldn't have noticed it if I hadn't been observing her so severely. I had amused her. I smiled as I answered.

"Zak Horowitz."

Suddenly, she turned to leave. I hadn't been expecting that. She had gotten a few steps away from me before I could stop her.

"Hey!"

She turned to face me again. I struggled for something to say. I didn't want her to leave my side anytime soon.

"You never answered my first question. Why is someone like you, obviously a very powerful member of the Volturi, out here in Russia?" I asked quickly.

Her answer surprised me.

"I ran away." She could not be serious.

"You . . . ran away?" I could not hold in my laughter at the absurdity of the thought. You don't simply _run away_ from the Volturi.

She frowned at me again, huffed and spun on her heel, stomping away. My heart lurched. Why was I so god damned stupid?

"Oh, come on, Lacey!" I said her name like a caress. She was too delicate for anything else. I crunched through the snow after her, finally reaching her side. I fell into stride with her.

"I'm sorry," I reached out to touch her arm, before realizing what I was doing, and pulled my hand back abruptly before shoving it back into my pocket. "I didn't mean to laugh. It's just . . . you don't simply run away from the Volturi." I tried to explain to her.

"Well, I did," She told me matter-of-factly.

How could she have managed that? How hadn't they caught her yet?

I voiced my second question. "How haven't they caught you yet?"

"I . . .," She began. She hesitated and glanced up at me before continuing. "I have a gift."

I wasn't surprised. She was in the Volturi after all. However, I didn't want her to stop talking. I prompted her on with a wide-eyed gaze.

She took a deep breath before continuing.

"I'm untraceable. It's been described to me as a "blind spot" in someone's vision. I have no scent. I leave no proof behind me that I was ever in a place, no proof that I ever existed. For example," she stopped walking. I halted beside her. She gestured behind us. I followed her gaze, confused.

I blanched. There was only one set of footsteps leading to where we stood. They were mine.

She smiled, at my surprise I presumed, and began walking again. I followed like a puppy.

"I can transfer my gift to others too. It's quite helpful when snooping around," She told me.

My brain finally registered something she had just said.

"You have a scent," I told her. I breathed in deeply again, taking the sweetness of it in. "It's very sweet, Almost like candy."

She stared at me, her mouth agape. I thought maybe she was unsatisfied with my answer.

"It's kind of like cocoa beans actually."

"Really?" Her eyes widened, child like surprise taking over her features. She looked even more innocent and angelic than before.

"Yes," I told her. "Haven't you ever been told that before?"

She shook her head lightly. "No. Everyone else that I've ever spoken to has said that my scent is like a blind spot in their vision. They can't smell anything coming from me."

Pride flooded through my body.

"That's too bad," I said. "You smell nice." Very nice.

Her cheeks flushed just a tiny bit, the blood from her last hunt pooling underneath her creamy skin. I felt the urge to kiss her cheeks. I managed to constrain myself.

Her next question was unexpected.

"Why are your eyes gold?"

I smiled down at her. My eyes, I had always thought, proved my self control. How I could restrain myself; resist the dessert and go for the salad instead.

"I don't follow your diet."

Her nose scrunched in confusion. She looked extremely cute. I fought the urge to kiss her nose.

"I'm a vegetarian, you could call it," I clarified for her. "I feed only from animals."

Her eyes brightened as I told her this, only to be clouded over by disgust a second later. I assumed she was disgusted by the thought of drinking only from animals. Most of our kind was.

"What? It's not that bad! Really! And you get used it. Sure, it's tough at first, but the blood gets easier to resist." I told her, attempting to explain my reasoning to her.

She cut me off mid explanation.

"That's one of the reasons I left," She sighed down at her feet.

I was confused.

"What? Being around all the humans?" I knew Volterra was a largely populated city.

"No. I don't want to feed from humans anymore. I hate killing. I see blood on my hands all the time," She glanced up at me, shame and regret filling her eyes. "They remind me of the loss my family went through when I died. I hate doing that to people. I don't like being a monster."

It was tearing my heart apart to see her like this.

"Hey!" I said, trying to catch her eye. She still didn't look at me. "Don't be like that! I didn't know any better either! None of us knew any better!"

She didn't answer me. Every fiber of my being wanted to stop her from hurting. I stopped walking, and grabbed her shoulders, forcing her to stop too. She continued to stare at her boots.

I didn't stop to think about what I was about to do. I grasped her chin, in my right hand. Her skin was so soft and smooth; I gently rubbed my thumb against her cheek. An electric shock ran through my body, starting in my hand where I was touching her.

_Finally! _My body screamed at me. It was a relief to have my skin touching hers. It felt so _right_.

I pulled her chin up gently, pulling her gaze from her shoes to my eyes. I stared deeply into hers as I spoke.

"Do _not_ get angry at yourself," I told her fiercely. "None of us are martyrs. But we can change, and we can grow into better people. We've all killed before. I've killed before. It's our hatred for killing that sets us apart from the rest of them. _We_," We sounded so right. A million different flashes of what _we _could be ran through my mind. "Can be different. I'll teach you. You'll never kill another human as long as I'm with you."

I hadn't noticed, but while I was giving her my speech I had been gradually closing the gap between our faces. My lips ached to have hers moving against mine. I hesitated before moving closer, to gauge her reaction. Her eyes fluttered closed as I got closer.

Soon, mine closed too. Suddenly, right before our lips were about to meet, she pulled away from me. I opened my eyes. Her face was turned away from mine, her eyes closed.

Her features showed pain. _I_ had caused that pain. I was mentally beating myself up. _Why, _was I such an _idiot_! I dropped my hand from her chin.

"I'm sorry." Her voice was barely audible, even with my advanced hearing. She had nothing to be sorry for. It was _me _who had caused _her_ pain. I took a few steps away from her.

She opened her eyes, searching for me. Her eyes were clouded over in pain, as I'm sure mine were. But, I couldn't leave her. It would literally rip me to pieces and I knew it. How I could feel so strongly for her when we had only laid eyes upon each other about an hour ago flabbergasted me. All that I knew was that I couldn't leave her. Ever.

Instead of saying anything, I held out my hand deciding that if she took it, she felt the same way. If she didn't, I'd let her go. I held my breath.

She placed her hand gently in mine without hesitation. My larger hand engulfed her tiny one. I curled my fingers around her warm ones and in that moment I knew I wasn't alone.


End file.
